Reading and Numerology in the Early French Reform

French humanists and reformers around 1500 drew upon ancient twelfth-century practices of reading numerologically, in an effort to recover a rich mode doing philosophy rooted Christian scriptures. This article is chiefly exploratory, setting out this programme’s sources, practices, aims within the circle Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples, comparing influential projects Modern Devotion, Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola. The centres on some examples how hermeneutic practice looked action, before closing with idea that conceptual ambition made it vulnerable mounting pressures early reformation.